Hiking North Carolina's Mountains to Sea Trail

Overview

North Carolina's longest trail, the North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail, is an ambitious project to provide a foot path linking the Mountains in the West to the Coastal Plain in the East. The trail, when completed, will be over 900 miles in length.

Signpost for the Mountains to Sea Trail in Mount Mitchell State Park

Starting at Clingman's Dome (the highest point in Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park), this trail boasts many superlatives. It travels over Mount Mitchell (the highest mountain in the entire Appalachian chain), and through Jockey's Ridge State Park (the highest sand dune on the East Coast). It's also the longest trail in the State, and one of the longest in the Appalachian region. For now, sections of foot path are completed, and linked with roads and state bicycle routes. The route is most complete in the western part of the state - in the mountains - and includes sections that make for excellent day hikes.

In various places, you may hear the trail referred to as the "MST" or "MTS Trail" in lieu of its longer, more formal name.

Through Hikes

While through-hiking the Mountains to Sea Trail is possible, this site focuses on shorter hikes featuring segments of the trail - possibly linking with other trails as well. For information on through hiking, visit the Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail's web site.

Trail Sections

As the trail heads north and then east from Clingman's Dome through the mountains, it exits the Western NC region at Hanging Rock State Park. The trail is unofficially divided into 22 sections in the Western part of the state, varying from about 8 - 30 miles per section with an average of about 20 miles each. These sections were first imagined by Allen de Hart in the late '90's, and published in his book "Hiking North Carolina’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail" (UNC Press, 2000). Other sources may publish different "segments" of the trail.

The MST and the Blue Ridge Parkway

While driving the Parkway and hiking in North Carolina's State Parks, look for the distinctive signpost (shown above) and a trail with circular white blazes to identify the Mountains to Sea Trail. The MST meets up with the Parkway in many spots - often overlooks - which make great jumping-off points for your hikes.

Shorter Hikes and Day Hikes

The Mountains to Sea Trail is an important connector for a number of day hikes, which we feature in the Hikes section. Each hike has all the details you need to make a complete trip featuring an exemplary segment of the Mountains to Sea Trail. We also provide a list of Short Hikes Near Asheville which use the Mountains to Sea Trail - perfect for after-work hikes, or shorter hikes when you don't have a lot of time to drive